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Abingdon

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"ABINGDON, comprises the two parishes of St. Helen, and St. Nicholas, it is a municipal and parliamentary borough and market town, having separate jurisdiction, locally in the hundred of Hormer, in the county of Berkshire, of which it is the chief town, 6 miles S.W. of Oxford, and 56 miles N.W. of London. It is on a branch of the Great Western railway, the Abingdon-road station being about 2½ miles from the town. It consists of several large streets, diverging from the market-place, and is pleasantly situated on the Thames, where the small river Ock falls into it. In the time of the Britons it was a city of importance, and a royal residence, where the councils of the nation were held. Its earliest name was Seouechesham or Suekesham (Chron. Abbend.). In the year 680, a Benedictine monastery, which had been previously founded at Bagley Wood by Cissa, viceroy of the King of Wessex, was removed to this place, which then took the descriptive name of Abbandune, or Abbendon, the 'town of the abbey'." (more...)

From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868), transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003.

Other descriptions can be found from other periods in various trade directories covering Berkshire from the early 19th century onwards from Berkshire FHS (members only) and from A Vision of Britain Through Time.

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Abingdon Parishes

ABINGDON, comprises the two parishes of St. Helen, and St. Nicholas;

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Archives & Libraries

Research Wiki from Family Search (the Church of Latter-day Saints (Genealogical Society of Utah))

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Church History

Information about some of the churches can be found below:

    • Methodists Trinity Methodist Church, Conduit Rd:  1875 - Trinity Wesleyan Methodist Church opened in Conduit Road; 1932 - Trinity Methodist Church was created through the union of United, Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists;  1945 - The Ock Street Church closed and the Primitive Methodist Church moved to Trinity;  1959 - 47 members living in North Abingdon transferred to form the new All Saints Methodist Church in Appleford Drive.  1968 - The Congregational Church closed its building in the town centre and moved in for joint services with Trinity on an informal basis.  1972 - The Congregational Church united with the Presbyterians to form the United Reformed Church;  1978 - The signing of sharing agreements between Trinity Methodist Church and  Abingdon United Reformed Church, to form the current congregation.  See A History of Trinity (Wesleyan) Methodist Church, Abingdon by D.B. Tranter. 
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    Description & Travel

    You can see pictures of Abingdon which are provided by:

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    Gazetteers

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    Historical Geography

    • Abingdon was in the hundred of Hormer
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    Maps

    You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SU498970 (Lat/Lon: 51.669575, -1.281292), Abingdon which are provided by:

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    Poor Houses, Poor Law

    Abingdon was in the Abingdon Union.  For more information, see Poorhouses.

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    Societies